1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to fabricating parts, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for deburring workpieces.
2. Background
In manufacturing parts, machining operations may be performed on workpieces. These machining operations may include, for example, without limitation, drilling, milling, sawing, planing, shaping, and/or other suitable types of operations. The tools used include, for example, without limitation, lathes, milling machines, drills, and/or other suitable devices.
For example, in manufacturing an aircraft, parts and/or sections of the aircraft may be spliced together. For example, a first portion of a fuselage may be spliced to a second portion of a fuselage for the aircraft. This splicing may involve connecting the two portions of the fuselage to each other using a number of splice plates. The splice plates may be secured to the two parts of the fuselage along a joint.
In attaching these pieces to each other, holes may be drilled through the splice plates and the two portions of the fuselage. Thereafter, fasteners may be placed into the holes to secure the two portions of the fuselage to each other.
During the drilling of the holes in the splice plates and in the two portions of the fuselage, an inconsistency in the material in the splice plate and/or in the two portions of the fuselage may occur. This inconsistency in the material may be referred to as a burr. Burrs may take the form of unwanted material remaining after a machining operation, such as, without limitation, drilling to form a hole. A burr may have an undesirable raised edge on a portion of the part in which a hole is made. A burr may be, for example, without limitation, a raised portion of a surface around the hole. Removal of these inconsistencies may be referred to as deburring.
Deburring may be performed manually or through the use of automated machines. Manual deburring, without limitation, may involve a human operator operating a deburring machine to remove inconsistencies. Manual deburring, however, may result in a less than desired finish.
For example, without limitation, in assembling an aircraft, about 150 splice plates may be present. Each splice plate may have about 20 holes or more. Manually deburring each splice plate may be time consuming.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.